BABYLON, Iraq Ammar al-Taee, an Iraqi archaeologist, picked up a clay panel fallen from one of the ancient walls of Babylon. I also explained that the once-so-powerful nation of Babylon the country which we now call Iraq will one day rise to become the most wealthy and powerful nation in the world, according to Old and New Testament prophets and apostles. When the Iraq War broke out in 2003, it quickly became one of the biggest threats to cultural heritage in the region, exacerbating existing problems and creating new ones. Over the last decade, oil revenues have accounted for more than 99% of [Iraqs] exports, 85% of the governments budget, and 42% of GDP, notesthe World Bank. Site Management Plan Excerpt: Babylon Cultural Landscape and Archaeological City, Friday Fun Facts: Ancient City of Babylon, Iraq, Iraqi Heritage in Danger: An Expert Meeting at the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam, Remarks by Bonnie Burnham, President of World Monuments Fund, at the Press Conference on Heritage and Conflict in Iraq and Syria at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday, September 22, Heritage Management Course Opens in Erbil, Iraq, The New York Times Covers WMF's Role in Babylon, WMF Supports Capacity Building in Data Management and Collection for Babylon Staff, In Beleaguered Babylon, Doing Battle Against Time, Water and Modern Civilization, Using Laser Scanners to Preserve Antiquities in ISIS Cross Hairs, Race in Iraq and Syria to Record and Shield Art Falling to ISIS, Babylon's Undiscovered Treasures Threatened by New Oil Pipeline, Le Site de Babylone Nouveau Menac, Cette Fois par un Oloduc, Efforts Under Way to Restore Babylon's Glory, After Ravages of Time and War, Triage to Save Babylon, After Years of War and Abuse, New Hope for Ancient Babylon, Guests to World Monuments Fund 55th Anniversary Gala Traverse The Globe From Home. Jeff Allen has been working on the Babylon site since 2009. Later excavations, undertaken by the German archaeologist Robert Koldewey in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, established that the city had been built and rebuilt several times, most notably on a lavish scale by its king, Nebuchadrezzar II (reigned 605-561 B.C.E . As soaring melodies from a concert at the amphitheatre built by Saddam Hussein in the 1980s, on the ruins of a third-century BC foundation, drifted over from the newly revived Babylon festival, the WMF programme director Jeff Allen toldThe Art Newspaper: The project will help usher in new tourism initiatives designed to enhance the visitor experience and help the local economy. Rev 16:19 - The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. It was great and terrible Nebuchadnezzar II who rebuilt Babylon as a magnificent paean to the creator god Marduk. But no one has ever touched them. It was a unique feat of engineering and architecture built in the city of Babylon, located near modern-day Baghdad, Iraq. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Anyone can read what you share. And contrary to all that the Bible says, Armstrong said one of the proofs of the Bible is that the City of Babylon would never be re-built. It's so well-defined it looks like it might have been made yesterday instead of more than 2,000 years ago. And God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup of the wine of the . Under the ruthless and ambitious King Nebuchadnezzar II, the sprawling settlement in modern-day Iraq grew into a major city as large as Chicago, and boasted towering temples, ornately tiled palaces and imposing city walls thick enough for two chariots to pass each other side by side. A story that will confound atheists and agnostics. For a while, Saddam Hussein attempted to rebuild Babylon, and he even fancied himself as the new Nebuchadnezzar. FACT #3-- After the FINAL FALL Babylons Stones will Never Again be Used. Today, conservation efforts must assess the effects of these twentieth-century additions at the site and their place in its future. Has Babylon of Chaldea (Iraq) been Replaced?4. Fewer still cared. Jesus ChristTo Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood, (Revelation 1:5, " And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost." For hundreds of years until the mid-1900s, Babylon suffered the ignominy of surrounding townspeople dismantling its walls to cart away the ancient bricks for their own building projects. Cyrus II, the Persian conqueror, invaded Babylon, then largely ignored it during his rule. The first mention of the gardens was in 290 B.C.E., long after Nebuchadnezzar (the alleged builder) had died. 3. yet there are PHOTOGRAPHS of Inhabitants at Babylon. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Jeremiah 51:26. Babylon in ancient Mesopotamia was known as the site of one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Today, what's visible is the top of some of the city walls. https://allisrael.com/five-killed-and-15-wounded-in-alleged-israeli-airstrike-in-syria. Just a few short decades after Nebuchadnezzar's death, Babylon was taken by the Persian conqueror Cyrus II, who reduced the city to just another outpost in his vast, Iran-based empire. There IS a buildup of Babylon going on today, and for the past 1000 years. Because King Nebuchadnezzar built palaces and temples on top of previous ones, there are entire layers of the city underground, and underwater. That's why it is an "interpretation-imperative" that we quit skipping over the word "Chaldea" ? Terrorist insurgencies. Now Iraqi officials are hoping to get back to the ambitious construction and investment plans they were hoping to pursue soon after the country was liberated from Saddam Hussein in the spring of. A U.S.-funded program to restore the ruins of Iraq's ancient city of Babylon is threatened by a dispute among Iraqi officials over whether the priority should be preserving the site or making . By Joel C. Rosenberg. They comfort my soul.. The elements and damaging reconstruction have left walls crumbling, and construction and fuel pipelines threaten vast areas of the huge, largely unexcavated city. "Babylon" and "Babylonia . As NPR's. When we say "Whaaaaaaaaat"!, that is not what my eyes see", we're told "not to believe our lying eyes". What else can you see in Babylon? Its hanging gardens were said to be one of the seven wonders of the world. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. FACT #2-- After the FINAL FALL there will Never Again be any Arab Dwellers. Join us in safeguarding significant places. Widely known for its legendary Hanging Gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Babylon today is home to national treasures such as Ishtar Gate and the Lion of Babylon. They clearly contradict the scene in Isaiah 13:19-20, where we read, And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans' pride, Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. Between 2009 and 2015, WMF collaborated with Iraqs State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH) to document Babylon, complete condition surveys, and develop conservation plans. Babylon's ruins, reconstructed in part by Saddam Hussein, lie about an hour and a half's drive south of today's Baghdad. If you look at a picture of Babylon today, it is abandoned and in ruin, no one lives there, but why? FACT #4-- After the FINAL FALL Babylon will be a "DESOLATE DESERT" Forever, But she will be completely desolate A parched land and a desert.. Jeremiah 50:13; 51:43. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Husseins interventions, neglect resulting from 12 years of draconian UN sanctions that bankrupted the country, and subsequent damage by military vehicles in the wake of the 2003 invasion all contributed to Babylons demise. Visitors From its peak as the Neo-Babylonian capital under King Nebuchadnezzar through its heavy-handed 1987 reconstruction by Saddam Hussein to its post-invasion demise when American and Polish troops ran roughshod over its ruins and ISIS threatened its very existence, the ancient city has witnessed empires come and go. Crumbling infrastructure. 2. Babylon has been inhabited for centuries, was one of the first megalopolises, and is even mentioned in the Bible. (Jer 50:13, 26). It will be a place for creatures of the night. It's part of the history of the monument. Babylon, the iconic ancient city, is once again rising from the ashes, just as Bible prophecy predicts - here is the latest Skeptics and cynics abound, but there is growing evidence the Iraqi government is serious about rebuilding this ancient wonder of the world Share this article by Joel C. Rosenberg | February 11, 2022 We can only guess how deep it could be, said Dr. Pedersen, one of the worlds leading experts on the archaeology of Babylon. 2. In the 1920s, the British ran train tracks through the archaeological site as part of a Baghdad to Basra railway. US soldiers take pictures of the Ishtar Gate in the ancient city of Babylon, on September 28, 2003. Ellsworth Kelly Foundation generously supported the development of this site. Gazing out at an ancient well that local legend says is the abode of the mischievous angels Harut and Maruthung there for eternity by God for teaching magic to mortalsthe WMF project manager Osama Hisham notes: This is only one of many temples that need urgent repair.. There is no place on earth today where stands the largest structure in the world, used for a religious purpose, all worshipping in one tongue regardless of their mother tongue, and is holy to more than 1.5 billion people on earth that is called Mount Babel, except the one in Mecca overlooking the Ka'ba. Later, Iraq built an adjacent highway. Several tours now run from Baghdad to the scenic marshlands of the south which some scholars say may have been the biblical Garden of Eden where sleek buffalo swim through grasses and people live on islands. People have lived there and are still living there today. 1.7K 234K views 15 years ago The New Babylon (Sep 1997) In the sixth century BC, Babylon, was the greatest city in the world. I first saw Babylon in the 1990s. He also ordered parts of Babylon reconstructed, leading to most of the current conservation problems. Iraqi university students on their first visit to Babylon. "And Babylon the Chaldeans' pride, Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. Iraqi officials are back at it, and have persuaded the United Nations to name Babylon a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Collaborating with the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH) until 2015, the WMF performed extensive surveys and documentation and developed conservation plans. Two centuries later, Alexander the Great planned to make Babylon the jewel of his Asian empire, but ended up dying in the city in 323 B.C.E. Baghdad can therefore be considered the successor to Babylon, though indirectly. This winter normally peak season because of the cool weather the pandemic affected the numbers and about 10,000 came. And the "new Babylon" has been located in New York City since 1952. And these are just a few of the nations myriad of troubles. After the invasion of Iraq in 2003, U.S. military contractors built a base on the site, digging trenches, driving armored vehicles on the fragile streets and filling sandbags with dirt mixed with pottery and bone shards. Is Babylon being rebuilt 2020? In the New Testament Book of Revelation, the "Whore of Babylon" makes an appearance "adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.". "And he will make a firm covenant [peace treaty] with the many for one week [week of years = 7 years], but in . Two millennia of looting and warfare reduced Babylon to the barest of ruins. Workshops for SBAH members both on- and off-site through WMFs Iraq Cultural Heritage Conservation Initiative helped develop local capacity toward the future preservation of Babylon and sites across Iraq, working with local stakeholders to support their continued stewardship of these treasured places. 18:18; 16:17-21). Is Babylon, Iraq, that "great city" of "Babylon" mentioned 5 times in Revelation 18? I should acknowledge up front that those who reject the teachings of the Bible understandably have a difficult time imagining a season of peace and prosperity emerging in Iraq. Sign upfor our newsletter to receive regular updates on our projects, stories from the field, upcomingevents, and more! New York, NY 10020 Mecca, it is both a "city" and a "tower": This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Tourism has been growing there gradually, as security has improved and hotels have opened., Just this month, an Arab newspaperreportedthat the Iraqi government is going to converta palace overlooking the UNESCO World Heritage site [in Babylon] into a museum.. War. It will never be rebuilt. Is America Babylon?6. On a recent weekend, Ahmed Juwad and his college friends stopped to take selfies as they strolled down the processional way, where Babylonian kings paraded statues of their gods and goddesses. Jesus will come at the end of this 7 years to claim His throne and begin His 1000 year millennial reign. Allen argues that the bad restoration during Saddam Hussein's era and even the damage done by the military should be seen by UNESCO as another part of Babylon's history. AFTER the FINAL FALL of Babylon, the site will never again have 1. But today, with renewed internal and foreign tourism and funding from the US embassy and other international donors, Babylon is coming back to life. It's a sad ending to such a fabled city. As the country. All rights reserved. Hammurabi ordered the construction of intricate canals to provide Babylon's citizens with fresh water, and fortified the city's walls against invaders. Jeremiah told Seraiah to read God's judgment on Babylon when he visited with King Zedekiah: It was Saddam Hussein who took up Nebuchadnezzar's mantle and tried to reconstruct some of Babylon's former glory, but ended up with what art historians decried as "Disney for a despot." Inside Babylons outer city walls, Iraqs oil ministry is building a metering station for one of the three pipelines that have been laid in recent years. But many of the bricks are crumbling, and as the water table rises, entire walls are in danger of falling. Prophecies about Babylon in Jeremiah (and the entire Old Testament) specify "Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans" (Jer 50:1; Isa 13:19, etc.). The ruins of Babylon, also known as Babel, date back over 3,000 years. The delicate repair job unfolds brick by brick, with layers from interventions in 1958, when King Faisal was in power, joining Hussein-era concrete and mud bricks, being replaced where possible by newly made baked and fired mud bricks, produced in local workshops in nearby Borsippa. Within that time, WMF and the SBAH completed a site management plan that addressed issues such as defining site boundaries and areas where future excavations might take place; identifying economic opportunities for local communities; and designing ways to accommodate tourists effectively at the site. It will include 2.8 million square feet of new office space distributed across three 22-story buildings. Yet TODAY such pictures exists. Isaiah 13:19. In the Bible, it was named "Mistress of Kingdoms" and was the capital of the third world power of Bible history. Inhabitants 2. JANE ARRAF, BYLINE: Mohaned Ahmed is sponging the bricks around the relief of a dragon with a serpent's head. ALLEN: Basically, we tried to initially subtract a lot of the modern additions that were on the site. Indeed, they began rebuilding the famed Ishtar Gates and the citys walls, as well as restore the city walls and some of its buildings. Babylon, being in the middle of the desert, had no such natural greenery, however; calling into question of how such lushness would have survived in the dryness of the desert. Archaeological site of Ur of the Chaldees in modern Iraq (Photo: screenshot Reuters video) Are there any signs of Babylon being rebuilt? In February 2021, National Public Radio reportedon the state of tourism in Babylon. We know the Jewish Temple will be rebuilt and sacrifices re-instituted right after the 70th Week of Daniel begins - the Tribulation - because the Antichrist will put a stop to the sacrifices half-way into the 7-year peace period. What my eyes do see--literally-- in both photographs and historical accounts, is human habitation and vibrant life far removed from Isaiah's description of post-'Final-Fall' Babylon. Click to reveal NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. An Iraqi worker chiseling out modern concrete that was used in Babylon between the ancient brick and is now damaging it. Cultural, religious, archeological, and biblical tourism is a big opportunity for Iraq, Allawi told me. The production of the new bricks, sized and coloured to match the original Babylonian ones (the Hussein-era ones were too small and not the right shade) is simultaneously reviving traditional masonry and training new practitioners. Much of the problem is that most of the four-mile-square city has never been excavated or even surveyed. There are continuing efforts to rebuild the ruins of Nebuchadnezzar's palace complex, headed up by The World Monuments Fund. Under the rulers leadership, Babylon was the most modern city of the ancient world. Current plans, detailed in conceptual drawings, will address drainage issues with faades of metal netting and local stones. Here's how you can be saved My "lying eyes" & Babylon We often hear from certain political circles (in 2022) that the economy is great, crime is under control, and the border is closed. 445-425 BCE - Nehemiah the Prophet Rebuilds the Walls of Jerusalem; City Confined to Eastern Hill. Ancient Babylon was an influential city that served as a center of Mesopotamian civilization for nearly two millennia, from roughly 2000 B.C. High poverty. The bricks in this area are repeatedly being exposed to water, dryness, and rising salts, and then they collapse, said Jeff Allen, a historical preservationist who has led the World Monument Fund project here since 2009. One day millions of people will visit Babylon, said Donny George, head of Iraqs Board of Antiquities. 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